Frantically competitive, a black
backed jackalfights a losing battle
against white-backed vultures crowding
in on a wildebeest carcass (above).
Absence of wounds suggests that the
wildebeest died of anthrax.Like most
predatorsand carrion-eaters,jackals
and vultures are less susceptible to the
disease but spreadthe bacterialspores
throughwastes and saliva at water holes.
Over a zebra's remains, a spotted
hyena shows dominance with erect tail
and ears, upright stance, and extended
neck (right). Bones that escape the
viselike jaws of hyenas are often
gnawed by giraffes (left), behavior that
may add minerals to their diet. This is
the first such photographpublished. "He
worked this bone in and out like a
sword-swallower," says Des Bartlett
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